Long Island Snowplow Driver Kenny McGowan Rescues Two Dogs Buried in Blizzard

Kenny McGowan, a Town of Babylon DPW snowplow driver, rescued two uncollared Labrador-mix dogs that had become buried in a three-foot snowdrift in the median of Sunrise Highway during the blizzard on February 27, 2026. McGowan spotted the pair while plowing the westbound side near Babylon Town Hall and moved to keep them from traffic before getting them to shelter care.

McGowan said he first noticed one dog in his mirror and then followed the animals for about one mile while keeping his sirens on. “I looked over and I seen something in the corner of my eye right there, and then I looked in my mirror and I saw a dog. I’m like ‘that’s a dog running,’” he said. “I immediately put my sirens on, and stayed right behind them. Being an animal lover, being a father, I went right into protection mode … I was gonna do whatever I had to do to stop these dogs from getting hurt.”

At a point near Town Hall, McGowan and several Good Samaritans were able to block traffic and corral the dogs into the median, where the animals “buried themselves in the snow,” McGowan said. He described the dogs as lying together in about three feet of snow, with one dog lying down and the other on top: “They ended up going into the median, right in the middle, where it was like three feet of the snow, and they, like, buried themselves in the snow... One dog went laid on here, and the other dog went on top of him, so I was like, I knew right away ... that they were close, they were family members, they were sisters.”

Jason Koza, a fellow DPW worker, arrived to help and brought a leash; other Good Samaritans included a truck driver who offered a rope and a mother and daughter who wrapped a blanket around the dogs. Accounts differ on the exact vehicle used to transport the animals to care: some witnesses say the dogs were loaded into Koza’s truck, while McGowan and others say they were placed in the back of McGowan’s plow or plow truck. In all versions the dogs were taken to the Town of Babylon animal shelter for evaluation.

Kennel attendant Danny Deutsch at the shelter warned of how precarious the situation had been: “If nobody would have found them, they could have froze.” Officials said one of the dogs was microchipped and shelter staff were able to track down owners, and staff kept the pair together because they appeared bonded.

It remained unclear how the Labrador mixes ended up running along Sunrise Highway amid near-whiteout conditions, but McGowan summed up the rescue plainly: “They definitely got lucky.” The dogs are in the shelter’s care while officials finalize reunification and follow-up checks.